Bits Bucket for October 1, 2011
Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Thanking the gods that September is finally over. Again.
Amen, sistah! ‘Tis the cruelest month here in this part of Florida, the peak of intense heat and humiditty, accompanied by a feeling of exhaustion in the general population due to the 5 previous months of same. The “cold front” just came through to signal the weather change with somewhat cooler, drier air. Heavenly. I’d like to say it’s right on time, but this is an earlier arrival than usual. Normally it’s not for another couple of weeks at least. But I have a theory that the seasons have “slid backward” by about a month, for whatever reason.
First day you can actually enjoy outdoors in over six months!!! Beautiful outside right now in sunny New Smyrna Beach, FL.
I have my sliding glass door to my screened in area open. My bedroom window open. First time it’s been cooler outside than inside my place since May? April? It is awesome! The pain will not return until next May.
Enjoy the midwest and the northeast, the rest of you this coming November thru April!
But wait a minute: Now it’s October — out of the stock market’s frying pan, into the oven!
Preview | SATURDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2011
The Cruelest Month? Fear Not October
By VITO J. RACANELLI AND CHRISTOPHER C. WILLIAMS
October has been the month of some of the most spectacular crashes of the past hundred years, but September is generally the poorer performer.
Investors fearfully approaching October, known for Halloween and market crashes, should calm down. Although some of the worst stock-market routs in the past 100-plus years have occurred in October, the trading month that starts this Monday is more likely to mark a transition to better times for stocks.
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Take Stock: Though some have “Octoberphobia,” the month can be a positive turning point for equities.
As of Thursday, the Dow wasn’t officially in a bear market, at least as measured by many market researchers, even though it closed about 13% below its April 29 high. However, for investors who have seen their stocks steadily decline, it certainly feels like one. But the pain could be ending.
True, some Octobers, like 1929’s and 1987’s, have been extremely cruel. But Hirsch says that, going back to 1950, September has had a greater average loss.
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Isn’t “The Market” is at least 50% machined program logic now? Complex computer algorithms trading billions of dollars back and forth daily from every corner of the globe. But they are but an artifact of something larger, bubble dynamics and modeled economics.
Let me quote my guru Doug Nolan, Fri, Sep 30, 2011:
His thesis in a snapshot:
“A unique period of unfettered global Credit has spawned myriad historic Bubble Dynamics. The unprecedented policy response, fiscal and monetary, at home and abroad, to the bursting of the 2008 mortgage/Wall Street finance Bubble unleashed the “Global Government Finance Bubble.” This Bubble was fueled by unprecedented growth in global sovereign borrowings and the unprecedented expansion of global central bank balance sheets, along with associated market pricing and risk-taking distortions. Importantly, this “global reflation” stoked already overheated “Developing” country Credit systems and economies to the point of dangerous Bubble fragilities. This view is supported by extraordinary Credit expansion throughout China, Brazil, India and “Developing” economies more generally. I have argued that post-2008 stimulus pushed China into a dangerous “terminal phase” of Credit Bubble excesses.”
Read more at http://www.safehaven.com/article/22744/testing-a-thesis
Obama took command of a country in a economic tailspin. He and his administration hired a lot of Clinton economic advisers that had a hand in building the framework the housing bubble was built on by the Bush II reign 2000-20008. This was his(Obama’s) choice, he chose poorly but what’s worse is he keeps Geithner and supports Bernanke. Anyway in my opinion who ever is in office in 2013 will not matter because this is global event. A huge reset is coming. This global index web site should banish the idea that current polices have fixed anything. http://indexq.org/
We were working on the new visitors center for the Inyo National Forest’s Bristle-cone Pine Forest. In mid September ( still summer ) we had to spend some time shoveling snow so we could proceed.
Cool! (So to speak.) Should be a grandfastic base for the coming season–’specially if you get snow next weekend.
See you soon, CT. Make it pretty up there.
Yesterday in the Bits Buckets there was discussion of offshoring and “personal responsibility”. Here’s a story of some very responsible people and an irresponsible corporation. The company has blue-collar jobs which cannot be outsourced to Asia. These hard-working folks saw an oppurtunity to work for Amazon, a darling of Wall Street, whose founder has a net worth estimated at $19 billion.
As you read this article, keep in mind the fact Amazon exists because the federal government developed the Internet, paid for by taxes paid by the parents and grandparerents of these workers.
from the story:
Elmer Goris spent a year working in Amazon.com’s Lehigh Valley warehouse, where books, CDs and various other products are packed and shipped to customers who order from the world’s largest online retailer.
The 34-year-old Allentown resident, who has worked in warehouses for more than 10 years, said he quit in July because he was frustrated with the heat and demands that he work mandatory overtime. Working conditions at the warehouse got worse earlier this year, especially during summer heat waves when heat in the warehouse soared above 100 degrees, he said.
He got light-headed, he said, and his legs cramped, symptoms he never experienced in previous warehouse jobs. One hot day, Goris said, he saw a co-worker pass out at the water fountain. On other hot days, he saw paramedics bring people out of the warehouse in wheelchairs and on stretchers.
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Workers said they were forced to endure brutal heat inside the sprawling warehouse and were pushed to work at a pace many could not sustain. Employees were frequently reprimanded regarding their productivity and threatened with termination, workers said. The consequences of not meeting work expectations were regularly on display, as employees lost their jobs and got escorted out of the warehouse. Such sights encouraged some workers to conceal pain and push through injury lest they get fired as well, workers said.
During summer heat waves, Amazon arranged to have paramedics parked in ambulances outside, ready to treat any workers who dehydrated or suffered other forms of heat stress. Those who couldn’t quickly cool off and return to work were sent home or taken out in stretchers and wheelchairs and transported to area hospitals. And new applicants were ready to begin work at any time.
An emergency room doctor in June called federal regulators to report an “unsafe environment” after he treated several Amazon warehouse workers for heat-related problems. The doctor’s report was echoed by warehouse workers who also complained to regulators, including a security guard who reported seeing pregnant employees suffering in the heat.
Inside Amazon’s Warehouse
Lehigh Valley workers tell of brutal heat, dizzying pace at online retailer.
A very long time ago, young Skye worked in a wretched chemical plant and saw a co-worker dragged out of a billowing green cloud by his heals, dead by poisoning. Young Skye dropped a dime on his employer with OSHA. OSHA dropped a dime on young Skye and I was quickly dismissed from the job.
Old Skye is convinced this event was a gift of 40 some more years of life. I also learned to say “No.”
I remember hearing stories from/about my great grandparents who came from Poland to work in the coal mines before WWI. All we need is a few deaths in the warehouse and maybe a fire and we’ll be about back to what they described.
The govt said striking during wartime wasn’t allowed, but a few of them did it anyway and got hauled off to the local military post’s stockade for a bit until things were worked out. As Catholic immigrants they even got harassed by the KKK…all I can think of is that the KKK must have been very bored in Wyoming.
The plutocrats will happily replace those fragile American workers with illegals who will work themselves to death for even lower wages. The regulators, in the pockets of Wall Street’s Republicrat hirelings, will do a sham investigation then allow retribution against the uppity serfs.
‘The plutocrats will happily replace those fragile American workers with illegals who will work themselves to death for even lower wages.’
Class warriors!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2PiXDTK_CBY
Then those illegals better be from a country that speaks English. (unless they do it all by number?)
The future belongs to Foxconn City
Sounds fair….
5 Temple-Inland execs to get $162 million if merger OK’d
Five top executives of Temple-Inland Inc. are in line to receive a combined $162 million in “golden parachute” compensation if stockholders approve International Paper Co.’s bid to acquire the Austin-based packaging and building products company, according to a securities filing.
Among the five top executives entitled to “golden parachute” compensation, according the securities filings, is Temple-Inland Chairman and CEO Doyle Simons. If stockholders approve, Simons would receive a compensation package worth $61.4 million, according to the securities filing. That total includes $8.8 million in cash, $29.6 million in company equity, $6.2 million in pension benefits and $16.6 million in tax reimbursement.
http://www.statesman.com/business/5-temple-inland-execs-to-get-1625-temple-inland-execs-to-get-162-million-1881138.html?cxtype=ynews_rss
MARIETTA — Cobb EMC’s embattled ex-CEO Dwight Brown was paid nearly $60,000 per month as a consultant to the EMC after he retired on Feb. 28, 2011.
Before he retired, Brown was earning a salary of as much as $575,000 per year to head the nonprofit electric cooperative.
All together, Brown’s compensation since the litigation settlement in December 2008 — including the buyout of his Cobb Energy contract; the full value of his Cobb EMC contract; his post-retirement consulting fees; and his retirement and annuity payouts after 31 years of employment with the EMC — add up to nearly $9.8 million.
Maybe people are starting to get it:
A chance to change the direction of Cobb EMC, the Marietta-based electric co-op embroiled in controversy in recent years, drew an unheard-of crowd to the utility’s annual meeting Saturday
More than 3,600 member-customers went to Piedmont Church over several hours and cast ballots on two measures. Meetings in past years drew a few hundred at most.
Also Saturday, members voted to end long-term retirement benefits paid to the board of directors. Along with pay for attending meetings, health benefits and life insurance, directors also receive $1,100 per month in retirement pay for 16 years after they have left the board and reached age 65, regardless of how long they were on it.
http://www.ajc.com/news/cobb/customers-send-reform-message-1183335.html
Realtors Are Liars®
U.S. Economy Tipping into Recession
Early last week, ECRI notified clients that the U.S. economy is indeed tipping into a new recession. And there’s nothing that policy makers can do to head it off.
ECRI’s recession call isn’t based on just one or two leading indexes, but on dozens of specialized leading indexes, including the U.S. Long Leading Index, which was the first to turn down – before the Arab Spring and Japanese earthquake – to be followed by downturns in the Weekly Leading Index and other shorter-leading indexes. In fact, the most reliable forward-looking indicators are now collectively behaving as they did on the cusp of full-blown recessions, not “soft landings.”
Last year, amid the double-dip hysteria, we definitively ruled out an imminent recession based on leading indexes that began to turn up before QE2 was announced. Today, the key is that cyclical weakness is spreading widely from economic indicator to indicator in a telltale recessionary fashion.
Why should ECRI’s recession call be heeded? Perhaps because, as The Economist has noted, we’ve correctly called three recessions without any false alarms in-between. In contrast, most of those who’ve accurately predicted a recession or two have also been guilty of crying wolf – in 2010, 2005, 2003, 1998, 1995, or 1987.
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Beware the claims of the Narcisist.
The ECRI?
Almost every Week i see another building here in Long Island city with an Avialable sign on it…….
Oh 2 months ago I saw a buliding that was adding 2 stories to their 1 story building, guess what….its some chinese distributor and they expaned to the 3 stories saw an ad for warehouse and sales workers must speak mandarin…checked the address… sure enough same building
Buildings can fly? (wink)
“This will make it more expensive and harder for some buyers to finance their purchases.”
Not mentioned in this shill piece: It will make it less expensive for U.S. taxpayers to subsidize the mortgages of millionaire home buyers. I’d argue that if home prices are down by 30%, the conforming loan limit ought to be reduced by at least as much — to 0.7*$729,750 = $510,825 in “high-priced markets.” That would restore affordability a lot more quickly!
Big mortgages: Harder to get and more expensive
By Les Christie September 30, 2011: 7:23 AM ET
Buyers of luxury homes in some localities will find obtaining mortgages a bit more chalenging (SIC) due to caps on loans.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Starting Saturday, the beleaguered housing market will confront the latest hurdle to its recovery: The size of mortgages that the federal government can back will be drastically reduced in high-priced regions.
When the bubble burst, mortgage banks had virtually stopped lending, except for government backed mortgages, which were capped at $417,000. Buyers of high-priced homes, mostly on the coasts, found themselves frozen out of the market, unable to get the bigger, “jumbo” loans that they needed.
So, back in early 2008, the government backed enterprises Fannie Mae (FNMA, Fortune 500) and Freddie Mac (FMCC, Fortune 500) raised the cap on loans they could back to as much as $729,750 in the most expensive housing markets.
Now, home prices are stabilizing — but down more than 30% from their peak — and the government wants private capital to jump back into mortgage lending. So the caps are being reduced, to different levels in different parts of the country. This will make it more expensive and harder for some buyers to finance their purchases.
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Let’s hope this one small step in the right direction will have a positive feedback loop. We’ve a long way to go to an affordable housing market.
I just don’t get the rationale behind forcing middle-American tax payers to pay for mortgage insurance on million-dollar California homes. Why can’t California millionaires buy their own mortgage insurance, and leave Mom and Pop in Flyover Country off the hook?
not to mention mom and pop taxpayer in California paying for mcmansions in flyover country.
Ya gotta love the interactive graphic detailing the debt remains which accompanies this story. Thank you, WSJ writers!
HOMES
OCTOBER 1, 2011
House Is Gone but Debt Lives On
By JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG
LEHIGH ACRES, Fla.—Joseph Reilly lost his vacation home here last year when he was out of work and stopped paying his mortgage. The bank took the house and sold it. Mr. Reilly thought that was the end of it.
In June, he learned otherwise. A phone call informed him of a court judgment against him for $192,576.71.
It turned out that at a foreclosure sale, his former house fetched less than a quarter of what Mr. Reilly owed on it. His bank sued him for the rest.
The result was a foreclosure hangover that homeowners rarely anticipate but increasingly face: a “deficiency judgment.”
Forty-one states and the District of Columbia permit lenders to sue borrowers for mortgage debt still left after a foreclosure sale. The economics of today’s battered housing market mean that lenders are doing so more and more.
Foreclosed homes seldom fetch enough to cover the outstanding loan amount, both because buyers financed so much of the purchase price—up to 100% of it during the housing boom—and because today’s foreclosures take place following a four-year decline in values.
“Now there are foreclosures that leave banks holding the bag on more than $100,000 in debt,” says Michael Cramer, president and chief executive of Dyck O’Neal Inc., an Arlington, Texas, firm that invests in debt. “Before, it didn’t make sense [for banks] to expend the resources to go after borrowers; now it doesn’t make sense not to.”
Indeed, $100,000 was roughly the average amount by which foreclosure sales fell short of loan balances in hundreds of foreclosures in seven states reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. And 64% of the 4.5 million foreclosures since the start of 2007 have taken place in states that allow deficiency judgments.
Lenders still sue for loan shortfalls in only a small minority of cases where they legally could. Public relations is a limiting factor, some debt-buyers believe. Banks are reluctant to discuss their strategies, but some lenders say they are more likely to seek a deficiency judgment if they perceive the borrower to be a “strategic defaulter” who chose to stop paying because the property lost so much value.
In Lee County, Fla., where Mr. Reilly’s vacation home was, court records show that 172 deficiency judgments were entered in the first seven months of 2011. That was up 34% from a year earlier. The increase was especially striking because total foreclosures were down sharply in the county, as banks continued to wrestle with paperwork problems that slowed the process.
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Truck driver Ray Falero of Minneola, Fla., faced a ‘deficiency judgment’ for debt left when a foreclosure sale of his house in Orlando, Fla., didn’t cover all he owed.
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Remains of the Debt
Take a look at the homes in Lehigh Acres, Fla., where borrowers have been sued for deficiency judgments in the first seven months of 2011 and 2010.
…
No FB dollar shall be allowed to escape.
I know a girl who rode the FB wave perfectly and was offered a Deed in Lieu for forgiveness of deficiency. She made out beautifully - $180k loan balance, place ended up selling for $65k - everybody wins!!! (taxpayer who…?)
Paging Ben Jones: You visited Lehigh Acres a couple of years ago. What do you think it looks like now? How thick are the vines growing on the stucco walls? I have not been there but would love to drop in and check on it…
I seriously doubt a judge would discharge their deficiency judgment in a bankruptcy if a HELOC was used for cars, toys and vacations. Same goes for an investment property, not the primary residence. What do these debtors expect?
Why not? They’ll discharge CC’s and that’s what they get used for.
MARKETS
OCTOBER 1, 2011
California Pulls Out of Foreclosure Talks
Move Is Serious Blow to Federal and State Effort to Reach $25 Billion Deal With Banks Over Questionable Practices
BY RUTH SIMON AND NICK TIMIRAOS
California Attorney General Kamala D. Harris pulled out of settlement negotiations with the nation’s biggest banks over alleged foreclosure abuses, calling the proposed deal “inadequate for California homeowners.”
The decision by Ms. Harris delivers a serious blow to efforts by the Obama administration and 50 state attorneys general to forge a $25 billion settlement with the nation’s largest banks over “robo-signing” and other questionable foreclosure practices.
Her actions follow the withdrawal of New York from the talks. Without the participation of California and New York in the negotiations, banks will be far less likely to agree to the multibillion dollar settlement that federal and state officials have spent months pursuing.
California remained a critical constituent for any deal because it has more borrowers who owe more than their homes are worth than any other state. California also has more borrowers that are behind on their mortgages or in foreclosure than any other state but Florida.
…
Here’s the e-mail that Courage Campaign, a California-based group attempting to derail state and national Republicrat attempts to give their bankster patrons a free pass on robo-signing and their other massive swindles, sent to members regarding California’s pullout from the settlement negotiations:
If you’re disgusted with the big banks, this is the best email you will read in a long time.
Breaking news! Kamala Harris, California’s Attorney General, has rejected the bogus 50 state settlement pushed by the big banks. Without California, the entire effort to lure the 50 Attorneys General into signing a “get out of jail FREE” card is crumbling.
For the first time, we’ve got the banks on the run. They’re terrified. We can finally extract justice on them for bankrupting our country!
How did this happen? We showed Kamala Harris that we would support her if she did the right thing. Nearly 10,000 Courage Campaign members signed our petition, and the momentum is on our side.
California has 10% of the nation’s population and was devastated by the foreclosure crisis. These fat cat bankers are not going to get off scot-free if we don’t let them…
1. A reduction on principal balances on all underwater mortgages to help stabilize our state economy and create more than 300,000 jobs in California
2. Limited immunity so banks are not off the hook from wrongdoing or future investigations
3. A monetary penalty that is commensurate with the harm caused by the banks: far past the bank-proposed $20 billion to be shared nationwide.
Great! I want a principal REFUND on my paid-off mortgages. That way I can afford the taxes to give these pukes their principal reductions.
Seriously, what happens if CA. banks are required to eat 100B worth of principal? Do they declare bankruptcy? Do FNMA and FRMC eat the same balances they’re suing for? Does that forgiven money simply come out of these mortgagees’ pension funds? I mean, Kamala Harris isn’t going to personally go out and shake down bank executives for their lunch money.
Anyone?
“I mean, Kamala Harris isn’t going to personally go out and shake down bank executives for their lunch money.”
I assume she thinks that the 50-state agreement is a giveaway to the banksters- which it probably is- and thinks she can get a better deal on her own. I imagine as California AG she has the ability to go after the banksters.
I’m all for her not giving the banksters a get-out-of-jail-free card, no matter how groups that support her spin what she’s doing. The 50 state agreement was looking like the old slap on the wrist mini-fine that the banksters have been getting throughout this crisis. If we want to see some punishment given to the banksters- this is how it’s going to happen.
I, for one, certainly hopes Kamala Harris sues the deep pocketed Wall Street Megabanks for every drop of fraud-related damages she can pin on them. But I certainly hope she doesn’t turn around and waste the proceeds on FBs who didn’t manage their personal finances well. The state of California is perpetually broke, and desperately needs the money. FBs can enjoy swimming in the pot of stew they cooked for themselves, so far as I am concerned…
Unfortunately, those deep pockets are usually worker bees and customers. Those execs will not give up their salaries or the profits to the shareholders.
I bring up the example of the oil lobbyists who was asked what would happen if taking away tax breaks would give Big Oil a $34M profit instead of a $36M profit. His answer was that they’d be forced to lay off little guys.
Or BoA, who makes money hand over fist from TARP and discount window/Fed/Treasury games on top of making interest on loaning out deposits. Their answer? They were “forced” to raise the debit card fee to $5 a month.
The only solution I can see is to break up these banks once and for all.
“The only solution I can see is to break up these banks once and for all.”
So many of our current problems could never have arisen without the role of the systemically risky, too-big-to-fail Megabanks that I am quite surprised no top economic policy maker has suggested this solution. Why not reinstate the Sherman Antitrust Act and use it to break up Megabank, Inc into small, service-oriented, non-systemically-risky pieces?
http://market-ticker.org/
Bloggers were right on book-cooking by banks (as regulators turned a blind eye).
Where have you been Sammy? This is not illegal in the US, it’s officially encouraged.
“The American consumer is not stupid,” he says. (They`re not?) “And they don’t want to buy assets that are going down in price.” (But they did camp out to buy assets or condos in 2005 at prices that will never be seen again in our lifetime) So if they are not stupid what are they? Oh that`s right, they are VICTIMS!
Housing Market Hasn’t Bottomed Because “American Consumer Is Not Stupid”, Says Mort Zuckerman
By Peter Gorenstein
Thu, Sep 29, 2011 12:05 PM EDT
Today’s guest on the Daily Ticker, Mort Zuckerman chairman of Boston Properties, one of the largest REITs in the country, doesn’t think the other shoe is going to fall. That’s not to say business is booming. As is always true in real estate, it’s about three things: location, location, location.
Suburbs vs. Cities
Smaller town shopping centers are struggling. “They don’t have the big tenants with the strong credits that can, in a sense, pay the rent through the difficult times,” says Zuckerman. Meanwhile, “in the major cities, in particular it’s been much less of a problem.” Zuckerman says that’s because the larger retail chains and areas with strong financial communities have been able to weather the storm.
Class A properties that Boston Properties specializes in, Zuckerman says, have not suffered high vacancy rates. In fact, demand for higher end properties is strong. “When everybody’s rents go down, what we’ve found over many years, is that people will go into the best buildings because they say, ‘I now can afford it.’”
Commercial vs. Residential
Three year after the Lehman Brothers collapse, Zuckerman says, commercial real estate is still a better buy than single family residential homes.
“We are not out of the woods on single family residential housing,” he notes. “The reason for that is there must be somewhere around 8 or 9 million homes that in one form or another have to be cleared through the market before the market restabilizes.” He’s referring to the number of homes in foreclosure proceeding and the millions more that have underwater mortgages.
But what about all the bullish reason to buy: historically low interest rates, more affordable prices and rising rents? That’s “not enough” to turn the tide, according to Zuckerman. What the market needs is confidence. “Until that changes, all of these statistics, in a sense, will be destroyed,” by a lack of confidence in the market.
“The American consumer is not stupid,” he says. “And they don’t want to buy assets that are going down in price.” That may be true, but there must be millions of consumers who look back on their subprime mortgage with regret.
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/housing-market-hasn-t-bottomed-because-american-consumer-160508402.html - 168k -
Gov’t Backs 4 More Solar Loans as Deadline Looms
By MATTHEW DALY Associated Press
WASHINGTON October 1, 2011 (AP)
The Energy Department on Friday approved four more solar energy loan guarantees worth nearly $5 billion, hours before a controversial loan program was set to expire.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department moved to take away control of a failed solar panel maker from its management and transfer it to a court-appointed trustee.
Energy Secretary Steven Chu said the department completed deals on four projects, including two that were sold late this week by Arizona-based First Solar Inc., a major solar manufacturer that had been seeking three federal loan guarantees for projects in California. The sales were announced Friday along with the loan guarantees.
The loans were approved under the same program that paid for a $528 million loan to Solyndra LLC, a now-bankrupt solar panel maker that has become a symbol for critics of the Obama administration’s green energy program.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wireStory/govt-backs-solar-loans-deadline-looms-14643218 - -
As major Solyndra investor and Barack Obama donor George Kaiser told a crowd of his fellow Oklahomans not long after Obama’s stimulus was announced in 2009, “There’s never been more money shoved out of the government’s door in world history and probably never will be again than in the last few months and the next 18 months. And our selfish, parochial goal is to get as much of it for Tulsa and Oklahoma as we possibly can.”
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/22/opinion/welch-sixteen-dollar-muffin/index.html - -
“And our selfish, parochial goal is to get as much of it for Tulsa and Oklahoma as we possibly can”
He sounds like the average American.
“He sounds like the average American.”
He sounds like the average American billionaire.
Another business since 1975 closing up….and another old massive building now going to be available in Long Island City…..
http://www.paramountantiques.com
I cannot image the future for this part of LIC. will they rennovate this into section 8 housing? homeless shelters? there is nothing around it no supermarkets not even a bodega.
Maybe they will rennovate it into a new high school like they did to an old DHL air express building about 10 blocks away.
Spliced my own headlight socket today (f the dealer mechanic, “we’ll have to replace the whole harness”) and sewed up a ripped couch. I will disconnect the battery next time.
Took the kiddos fishing and to the beach… hell yeah.
Also, we didn’t buy a house.
“Civilization is the progress toward a society of privacy. The savage’s whole existence is public, ruled by the laws of his tribe. Civilization is the process of setting man free from men.”
Beautiful words! I wish I came up with that one.
If you want to feel like a teenager again, just find your copy of 2012 and push play. Thanks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQEgZNqa8jE&feature=related
By that standard, I’m the most civilized person I know. I sense a discrepancy in here somewhere, but it *sounds* pretty….
Bravo! You are in the right mindset!
NY REGION
OCTOBER 2, 2011
Protesters Arrested on Brooklyn Bridge
Associated Press
NEW YORK—The Brooklyn Bridge has been shut down in one direction after protesters camped out near Wall Street spilled onto the roadway.
Police prepare to arrest demonstrators affiliated with the Occupy Wall Street movement after they attempted to cross the Brooklyn Bridge.
Police have made dozens of arrests and were continuing to stop people illegally blocking the roadway Saturday evening.
Demonstrators are railing against corporate greed, global warming and social inequality, among other grievances.
…
Most of these protesters look suspiciously like the empty-eyed Obama Zombies of 2008. They don’t just want to end crony capitalism; they want to end capitalism and replace it with statism.
There are unfortunately far too many youngster-beards and not nearly enough BDU and trucker caps in the crowd. What they want may not be what I want. They certainly seem to be on the right track in pointing the finger at what all of us don’t want, though.
“not nearly enough BDU and trucker caps in the crowd.”
Where is the Tea Party?
Which side are you on, Tea Party
Which side are you on?
(I think I know, but I’m holding out hope.)
I live in a TEA Party state. Please trust me when I say this: it’s too much, too fast, too far. Just be a good, old-fashioned Republican and skip the extremism.
Check this article out (Fl. REPUBLICAN Mike Fasano gets a $10k middle finger from the TEA nutbags):
http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/state-sen-mike-fasanos-request-for-public-records-draws-1075013-invoice/1194316
LOL- Something’s up, that’s for sure for sure. I assume our local crime-fighters who post incessantly about the solar energy company non-crimes will be all over this. Right?….
Stick a fork in this guy, and bring on the next loser…
Rick Perry suggests US military role in Mexico drug war
BBC
Texas Governor Rick Perry - who is seeking the Republican nomination for US president - has said he would consider sending American troops into Mexico to combat drug-related violence.
Mr Perry was speaking during a campaign appearance in New Hampshire.
“It may require our military in Mexico working in concert with them to kill these drug cartels and keep them off our border,” he said.
Well, we ARE supposedly withdrawing troops from Iraq, and that kerfuffle in Afghanistan isn’t going all that well for the US. It’s looking more and more like Israel will be fighting its own wars for the foreseeable future, so maybe we SHOULD move our military industrial complex closer to home and “fight the war on terra on our own borders.”
Can’t have all those war-fighters and military contractors sitting around drawing unemployment now can we? Think of KBR’s poor Dick Cheney and his mechanical heart! Think of the revenues from Mexican oil fields that will practically pay for the whole operation! Think of the (as yet un-incinerated,) children!
I mean, we have to be fighting SOMEBODY, right? Right?
More than 700 arrested in Wall Street protest
Sat, Oct 1 2011
By Ray Sanchez
NEW YORK | Sun Oct 2, 2011 12:25am EDT
(Reuters) - Police reopened the Brooklyn Bridge Saturday evening after more than 700 anti-Wall Street protesters were arrested for blocking traffic lanes and attempting an unauthorized march across the span.
The arrests took place when a large group of marchers, participating in a second week of protests by the Occupy Wall Street movement, broke off from others on the bridge’s pedestrian walkway and headed across the Brooklyn-bound lanes.
“Over 700 summonses and desk appearance tickets have been issued in connection with a demonstration on the Brooklyn Bridge late this afternoon after multiple warnings by police were given to protesters to stay on the pedestrian walkway, and that if they took roadway they would be arrested,” a police spokesman said.
“Some complied and took the walkway without being arrested. Others proceeded on the Brooklyn-bound vehicular roadway and were. The bridge was re-opened to traffic at 8:05 p.m. (0005 GMT Sunday).”
Most of those who were arrested were taken into custody off the bridge, issued summonses and released.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene on the famous suspension bridge as a sea of police officers surrounded the protesters using orange mesh netting.
Some protesters tried to get away as officers started handcuffing members of the group. Dozens of protesters were seen handcuffed and sitting on the span as three buses were called in to take them away, witnesses and organizers said.
The march started about 3:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) from the protesters’ camp in Zuccotti Park in downtown Manhattan near the former World Trade Center. Members of the group have vowed to stay at the park through the winter.
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Dear God,
Please support the Slovakian leaders’ anti-bailout stance so the international Megabanks can get the proper @$$pounding they justly deserve.
Humbly,
Cantankerous Professor “Get Stucco” Bear
One last barrier to Greek bailout – but Slovakia just won’t budge
By Tony Paterson in Berlin
Saturday, 1 October 2011
Germany’s President Christian Wulff and his Slovak counterpart Ivan Gasparovic meet at Kezmarok Castle in Slovakia earlier this week
Pressure was mounting yesterday on Slovakia, the newest member of the eurozone, to drop its opposition to the expanded EU bailout fund as the country looked set to be the main stumbling block in the way of final ratification of the €440bn (£379bn) package.
Austria yesterday followed Germany in backing the eurozone’s €250bn increase to the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). That leaves only three of the single-currency region’s 17 governments – Malta, Holland and Slovakia – still to ratify the measure.
The Dutch and Maltese governments are expected to give their approval soon. But stiff opposition has surfaced in Slovakia from the junior partner in a four-party coalition government.
Slovakia, which joined the eurozone in 2009, is due to ratify the bailout fund in mid-October. But the leader of the country’s Freedom and Solidarity Party has threatened to vote against the package. If carried out, his threat would block the bill’s passage through parliament as Slovakia’s opposition parties have said they will also oppose the measure and not come to the aid of the remaining parties in the governing coalition.
“The rescue fund is simply buying time in an incredibly costly way, but it’s not solving the problems,” Richard Sulik, Slovakia’s Freedom and Solidarity party leader, told German television.
Echoing views of scores of other MPs in other European parliaments who oppose the project, he said: “If the euro crumbles it will be because of said massive deficits in individual countries, not because we rejected the rescue fund.”
Intense political wrangling is underway in Slovakia to persuade Mr Sulik and his party to change its mind. Eurozone countries which have already ratified the bailout are expected to step up the pressure on Slovakia over the coming weeks.
Observers were predicting yesterday that Slovakia’s coalition could be offered a face-saving clause which would enable it to officially approve the bailout but opt out of its contribution in an emergency. The other possibility under discussion was that remaining eurozone countries would pick up Slovakia’s share of the rescue package.
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Now if California could only come up with a means to sue Megabank, Inc into oblivion for the billions and billions of dollars in losses perpetrated against California citizens through fraudulent financial engineering schemes, perhaps we could fill our budget gap and our economy could right itself. I also wouldn’t cry many tears if quite a few top banking executives wound up behind bars as a result (I’m not talking about small fry like Bernard Madoff here…).
And yes, this is class warfare — against the K-Street / Wall Street establishment whose fraud schemes have bilked the rest of America out of its wealth and financial stability.
It’s time to settle the score.
At The Worst Time, California Just Dropped Another Huge Bomb On The Banks
Joe Weisenthal | Oct. 1, 2011, 8:31 AM
Banks (and their stocks) are reeling, and this news isn’t going to help:
On Friday, California, the nation’s number-one state for foreclosures, has pulled out of 50-state negotiations to reach a settlement over robosigning and other foreclosure related issues.
From WSJ:
Progressive political groups are thrilled at the development, which probably is a good sign that the banks are going to be furious.
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Robo-Signing Continues; Foreclosures Could Be Affected
September 30, 2011
The practice of robo-signing–bank employees signing documents without reading them–was supposed to be over. But a Reuters investigation shows that it continues, and could affect future foreclosures.
PressRelease/ — Late last summer, the country learned about a new wrinkle in the mortgage and real estate crisis: robo-signing — the practice by some banks and financial institutions of signing off on the paperwork governing mortgages without anyone reading or reviewing it. The robo-signing scandal led many banks to suspend foreclosures until they could get their paperwork in order, and eventually caused 14 banks to reach a settlement with federal banking regulators in March of this year.
In the settlement, the financial institutions agreed to investigate their internal procedures, as well as to stop filing false affidavits and falsely notarizing documents — which they shouldn’t have been doing in the first place, because it’s illegal. But a multi-state investigation of foreclosure records by Reuters shows that at least five companies (OneWest, Bank of America, HSBC Bank USA, Wells Fargo and GMAC Mortgage) are still filing documents of questionable validity.
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Debt-ceiling debacle and SL County
By Gregory P. Hawkins
First published Oct 01 2011 01:01AM
Updated Oct 1, 2011 01:01AM
Congressional tantrums may result in real and lasting consequences for Salt Lake County residents.
In 1787 John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson that, “All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America rise, not from defects in their Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation.”
Present day fiscal policy in Washington still seems to struggle with these basic concepts.
Standard & Poors recently downgraded the long-term sovereign credit rating of the United States from AAA to AA+, assigned a negative outlook and warned that additional downgrades may be imminent if foundational issues are not satisfactorily addressed by those elected to lead and manage our country.
Standard & Poors further observed that “the downgrade reflects our view that the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges.” They also cite concerns over the nation’s rising debt burden and the likelihood it will continue to increase.
How does this affect the average Salt Lake County resident?
Moody’s has advised county leaders that they intend to review our bond rating along with other counties. Their action is a direct result of emerging concerns over the potential impact that federal employment and funding may have on the local economy.
These concerns and the resulting review of Salt Lake County’s bond rating are a direct consequence of the failure of Congress to lead our nation and establish responsible and well-reasoned fiscal policy. If the county’s bond rating is downgraded, residents will be left bearing the burden of increased interest costs, which translates to increased taxes, decreased services, or both.
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I have a great idea: Rather than thinking about shutting down the entire federal government, why not instead shut down Congress. They only have an 12% approval rating, for Heaven’s sake. Let’s shut them down before they can do any further damage to our Nation. The American voter can get a chance in November 2012 to elect representatives who know how to properly govern.
Analysis: Why Congress barely functions
Published: October 1, 2011 9:15 PM
By CHARLES BABINGTON. The Associated Press
WASHINGTON — How did it get this bad on Capitol Hill? Why does Congress barely function today? The legislative branch of the world’s most powerful nation is now widely scorned as it lurches from one near-catastrophe to the next, even on supposedly routine matters such as setting an annual budget and keeping government offices open.
Congress is accustomed to fierce debate, of course. But veteran lawmakers and scholars use words like “unprecedented” to describe the current level of dysfunction and paralysis. The latest Gallup poll found a record-high lack of faith in Congress.
There’s no single culprit, it seems. Rather, long-accumulating trends have reached a critical mass, in the way a light snowfall can trigger an avalanche because so many earlier snows have piled atop each other.
At the core of this gridlock is a steadily growing partisanship. Couple that with a rising distaste for compromise by avid voters.
Instead of a two-party system, American government has become a battle between warring tribes, former Rep. Mickey Edwards (R-Okla.) said. When House and Senate leaders set out their goals and strategies, he said in an interview, “it comes down to the party first,” with the public’s welfare lagging.
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Congress’ Approval Rating Lowest Ever
Hits 12%; Republicans fare worse than Dems
By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff
Posted Sep 16, 2011 11:46 AM CDT
(Newser) – Congress’ approval rating has once again sunk to its nadir, a mere 12%, a New York Times/CBS News poll finds. That figure was first hit in October 2008, in the throes of the economic crisis. While just 28% of voters approve of the work of congressional Democrats, only 19% approve of the job congressional Republicans are doing, the Times reports. Within their own parties, half of Republican voters disapprove of congressional Republicans, while some 43% of Democratic voters disapprove of Dems on Capitol Hill.
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CONGRESS SINKS EVEN LOWER IN NEW POLL OF THE GREAT UNWASHED
September 16, 2011
(NATIONAL) — What do the American people think of the U.S. Congress? They think it sucks. And big time.
Just 12 percent of Americans approve of how Congress is doing its job according to a new poll released Friday — and that happens to match the all time record low for how people feel about congress.
That 12% approval rating in the new CBS/New York Times poll matches the lowest of lows recorded in October 2008.
In this new poll only 6% of voters say members of Congress deserve re-election — the lowest percentage ever in the past 20 years, dropping even below the nine percent who thought that before the 2010 midterm elections.
Close to 60% of voters don’t even believe their own representative should be reelected (typically Americans have a more positive view when asked about their own elected representative).
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Bank of America: 24 People Arrested in Boston Protest
October 1, 2011 12:45 PM EDT
Two dozen people were arrested Friday in Boston for trespassing during a protest demonstration against Bank of America (NYSE: BAC).
The demonstrators rallied outside the Bank’s offices in downtown Boston to protest what they called the lender’s unfair foreclosure practices. The Boston Herald estimated that as many as 3,000 people attended the protest
Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis told the Herald: “[The demonstrators] wanted to be arrested, and we obliged,”
He added that nobody resisted police.
“[There was] no trouble at all. It’s a great group,” he noted.
The 24 arrestees, comprising 15 women and nine men, spent several hours in a jail in South Boston, but are unlikely to face any serious charges.
One of the women arrested, Carolyn Grant, told the Herald: “We had to [make] a stand to let Bank of America know they cannot foreclose on families and put them out on the street.”
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At this point, I have a far more favorable impression of banker honesty than Realtor™ honesty:
“NO HOUSING RECOVERY UNTIL AFTER 2020,” say the forthright bankers. By contrast, used home sellers are either too stoopid or too dishonest to ever concur.
Sept. 30, 2011, 11:00 a.m. EDT
Housing Prices Unlikely to Recover Before 2020, FICO Survey Finds
73% of bankers surveyed see elevated level of mortgage foreclosures for at least five years
MINNEAPOLIS, Sep 30, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — FICO’s latest quarterly survey of bank risk professionals offered a decidedly pessimistic outlook, reversing the growing optimism seen in late 2010 and early 2011. The survey, conducted for FICO by the Professional Risk Managers’ International Association (PRMIA), shows that bankers expect delinquencies on consumer loans to rise, underwriting standards to become stricter, and the housing sector to continue struggling far into the future.
No recovery in sight for beleaguered housing sector
When asked if housing prices nationally would climb back to 2007 levels before the year 2020, 49 percent of respondents said no. By comparison, 21 percent said yes. And the negative sentiment extended beyond property values. Among bankers surveyed, 73 percent believed mortgage defaults would remain elevated for at least five more years. Furthermore, 46 percent of respondents expected mortgage delinquencies to increase over the next six months, and only 15 percent of respondents believed mortgage delinquencies will decline during that period.
“Housing has been an enormous drag on the economy for over three years as U.S. households lost trillions of dollars in equity,” said Dr. Andrew Jennings, chief analytics officer at FICO and head of FICO Labs. “While the housing sector will almost certainly gain strength during the next nine years, many bankers clearly believe prices will remain depressed for half a generation. This puts the devastation of the housing crash into perspective.”
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